


The Prisoner

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alien scribbling, Coulson interrogates Ward, Fearful Coulson, GH-325, Gen, John Garrett - Freeform, Just me getting meta feels off my chest, Melancholy, Moody Coulson, Phil is a control freak, Skoulson if you squint well as much as is in the show, So not really squinting is it, Ward manipulating Coulson, look away, this is not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2014-10-07
Packaged: 2018-02-20 07:30:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2420270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre 02x01 feels.  Coulson interrogates Ward, who makes him go into fearful freakout mode about the GH-325, and this is my explanation for why he distances himself from Skye and why he puts her on decrypting the symbols.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Prisoner

"You're going to tell me what I need to know."

"Wow. Smug arrogance. From you. Who would have thought?"

Ward sighed, stretched, went to lean back against the wall.

"Do you have a monologue prepared? Because, I can get comfortable."

"Your play with the paper was clever," Coulson replied. "But, I'm not falling for it."

Ward touched the bandages on his wrist.

"If you did," Ward said, smiling over at Coulson. "I'd loose all respect for you. Sir."

Coulson ground his teeth, staring back at the other man, watching Ward's eyes glaze over as he stared back.

"Tell me about Garrett."

Ward's face immediately fell, then tensed into a bitter frown. It finally ended in his eyebrows raising, having made peace with some hidden thing, as he started to pace along the invisible barrier between them.

"Yes, that _would_ interest you," Ward said, coldly.

"You said that you wanted to help Skye. She has the GH-325 in her as well."

"Because you _gave it_ to her," Ward said, stopping, giving him an appalled gaze, as if he were the one judging.

"Yes," Coulson admitted, shifting in his spot in the chair. "I didn't want her to die."

"You might wish she had."

Coulson stood up out of the chair, making its metal legs grind against the cement floor.

"Oh, did I upset you?" Ward said with barely contained glee.

"Then, you don't want to help Skye at all," Coulson said, raising his hand to the touchpad.

"No, _I do_ ," Ward shot out quickly, crossing his arms and bringing one hand to his mouth. "But not you. Never you."

"We're done, then," Coulson said, turning his back.

"Garrett started making drawings, on every surface," Ward volunteered. "It was the same symbols we saw on the mission with Amador in Russia. Garrett knew HYDRA wanted them, but he didn't know for what. See, Garrett was running his own little shop under HYDRA's noses. He was never loyal to them. Never the monster you made him out to be."

"He.had.Skye. _shot_ ," Coulson said, through clenched teeth.

"That was really your fault, though," Ward said with a sigh, "But, I digress."

He watched as Coulson's eyes followed him back and forth as he moved, his chin jutting forward.

"Then a few hours after the injection," Ward started again. "He started to talk to himself. I'd find him in a room, alone, talking like there was someone standing there in front of him.  No one was, of course. But the thing is, he was still lucid. He could function, he could lead. But...he was slowly going crazy."

Coulson swallowed and his eyes looked away to the floor.

"Any of this ringing your bell, Phil?" he said with a charming smirk.

Coulson didn't answer, he went and sat back down at the chair, straightened his tie by rote, and stared back at Ward.

"Okay," Ward said, with a shrug. "Then he started telling us what he was seeing. That he could see inside everything, that the universe was speaking to him. That it was _beautiful_ ," he added dramatically.

Coulson slowly looked up at Ward, his face gone ashen.

"Is it?" Ward asked him. "Because John loved it. It made him _so happy_."

Coulson stood up.

"Do you want that, for Skye?" he asked him solemnly. There was sweat glistening on his forehead, despite the controlled environment.

"No," Ward said soberly, looking at Coulson sideways. "Never."

They stood across from each other, the invisible barrier in between. Staring in silence.

"Garrett could also...he was strong," Ward continued. "I watched him rip out a man's rib with his bare hand and beat him to death with it. And it wasn't in a fit of rage," he said with a shake of his head. "It was like he was having a casual conversation while he did it. Just like...it was nothing," he drifted off.

Coulson was staring up at him, looking tired, and drained. Lost in his own thoughts.

"You will keep her safe, won't you?" Ward said, full of sincerity.

Coulson shut his eyes, and turned his back.

"I need to know that she's okay. So, send her, next time. If you want something. Because, I will never forget what you did to John," Ward said from behind him.

"You'll give us what we want. I promised you that," Coulson said, raising the touchpad.

"We'll see."

  
****

Coulson made his way back to the situation room, placed the touchpad on the table and glanced up at May and Koenig staring over at him near the monitor.

"Sir, you don't believe..." Koenig started.

May crossed her arms in front of her, glancing at Koenig and then to Coulson.

"How much of it is true?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he said, having trouble finding his voice.

"But some of it..." she said.

He nodded.

"Koenig," he said, looking over at him. "Run some general tests against his voice patterns, pupil dilation, pulse, let me know if there is even the slightest indication that he is either lying or misdirecting."

"Yes, sir," Koenig said. "I'll start reviewing the tapes now."

"May," Coulson said, giving her a look and heading up the stairs as she followed after.

Once inside she shut the door, furious.

"You played right into his hands," she said.

"I know, but...we weren't getting anywhere on our own," he said. "And I don't want to send her to..."

"Me neither," she said, sighing and crossing her arms.

"I'll be on the road," he said, "I need to...figure things out ...before then."

"Extended trip, then? You're about due, anyway," she said.

"She can't know about any of this," he said. "Do you understand? I need to keep her away. From all of it."

"Skye's not one to stay in the dark, you know that."

"Whether I go down with a fight, or screaming like a madman," he interrupted. "I'm not taking her with me."

"Do you understand?" he asked forcefully.

"Calm down, Phil. You don't have control over that," she said slowly.

"Yes, I do. That's _one thing_ I still have control over."

"You're afraid," May said. "You need to take some time, think it through. We don't even know if Ward is telling the truth."

"He is," Coulson said, sitting down behind his desk and nodding to her.

"I can feel it."

"You're making a mistake," May warned.

"Do I need to make this an order?" he asked with frustration, drawing out the tool from inside his desk and placing it on the top.

"No." 

"May, from now on, I want you to arm yourself.  Understood?"

"Phil," she said, pleading.

"Please." 

****

"I'll be gone," he said. "A week, maybe longer."

Skye looked away from the symbols on the screen, back to him.

"What's up with you?" she said, bumping against his shoulder. "You look all tense."

"New job, is...taking up all my free time," he said, forcing a smile. "I'm basically a glorified recruiter at the moment."

"True. You know, I _could_   come along, Mr. Director," she said, raising an eyebrow. " _Assist_   you in the field?"

"No," he said. "In fact," he turned nodding at the screen. "I really need you to work on these symbols. We found them at Cybertek."

"They look like the same thing we picked up when Ward was doing undercover in Russia," she said, tilting her head.  "Where did these come from?"

Coulson was watching her as she stared at the screen.

"Garrett," he said, after a moment.

She blinked a few times, looking away, then met his eyes again.

"Whatever you need," he said, "Codebreakers, Rising Tide, if you want?" he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Skye's eyebrows shot up into her forehead as she grinned at him, clearly thrilled at the idea.

"Really?! Let me make sure you're well, sir," she said with a laugh, reaching for his forehead with her hand.

He stepped back, awkwardly, away from her.

"Okay," she said, watching his strange expression.  "Sorry, I was just..."

"It's fine. Thank you," he said. "I'll be back for updates.  So, do your thing."

He turned and headed towards the hall.

"I guess that means I won't be seeing you later?"

Coulson stopped, turned back towards her over his shoulder.

"No."

"I'll just have to find some other way to stay out of trouble, then."

"For now," he answered, swallowing and turning away again.

She watched him leave the room and stared after him for a moment, bothered by an unfamiliar feeling between them.

Giving in to distraction, she looked at the symbols scrolling on the screen.

"C'mon, baby, speak to me."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> along the brittle treacherous bright streets
> 
> of memory comes my heart singing like  
> an idiot whispering like drunken man
> 
> who(at a certain corner suddenly)meets  
> the tall policeman of my mind.
> 
> awake  
> being not asleep elsewhere our dreams began  
> which now are folded:but the year completes  
> his life as a forgotten prisoner
> 
> -“Ici?”-“Ah non mon chéri;il fait trop froid”-  
> they are gone:along these gardens moves a wind br  
> inging  
> rain and leaves filling the air with fear  
> and sweetness….pauses. (Halfwhispering….half  
> singing
> 
> stirs the always smiling chevaux de bois)
> 
> when you were in Paris we met here
> 
> \--ee cummings


End file.
